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Eldon Grier
| birth_place = London, England | death_date = July 2001 (aged 84) | death_place = Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | occupation = Poet, Artist | nationality = Canadian | period = | genre = | subject = | movement = Modernist | notablework = An Ecstacy | spouse = | partner = | children = Sharon, Alex, Brock | relatives = | influences = Louis Dudek, Ralph Gustafson | influenced = | signature = }} Eldon Grier (13 April 1917 - July 2001) was an English-born Canadian poet and artist. Life Grier was born in London, England and raised in Montreal, Quebec, to Kathleen Phyllis (Black) and Charles Brockwill Grier.Victoria Price, "Eldon Grier Guide to Literary Masters and their works", Great Neck Publishing, 2007 His father was a captain in the Canadian army. Following his service in the army Charles became a stockbroker, and sent his son to private school. Grier started his career as an artist. In 1945 he travelled to Mexico to study fresco painting from Alfredo Zalce.Rosemary Sullivan, "The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature”, Oxford University Press, 2005 He was apprenticed to Diego Rivera as a plasterer. He later became a professor at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts under Arthur Lismer.Douglas Fetherling, "Obituary: Eldon Grier Shunned Bombast of his Peers", The Vancouver Sun, August, 4, 2001 pg. E17 In his mid-30's Grier was diagnosed with tuberculosis,R.W. Stedingh. (2003).” Aesthetic Distances” Canadian Literature,(176), 144-145, 205. Retrieved November 4, 2010, from CBCA Complete and underwent treatment for 2 years before he recovered. Grier married his Elizabeth Temple Jamieson in 1944; a daughter, Sharon, was born in 1948. The couple divorced in 1952, and Grier married Sylvia Tait in 1954.Fraser Sutherland, "Collected and Selected: Five Gems", The Globe and Main, August 4, 2001 They had 2 children together: a daughter, Alexa and a son, Brock. Eldon Grier traveled in Europe from 1955 to 1965, spending his winters in Mexico. He began writing poetry in Spain in 1955. Grier decided to become a poet because he felt that meaning was expressed more effectively though words. He died at the age of 84 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Writing Grier was a modernist. His poems manipulate lines shifts, rhyme, and contain complicated stanzaic shapes. Grier’s early poems were influenced by Louis Dudek and Ralph Gustafson. His later works have been compared to those of Al Purdy. Grier is best known for his poems regarding travel and art. He has written many poems to painters and sculptors. His poems focus heavily on visual imagery and colors. Recognition His poetry was anthologized in the Penguin Book of Canadian Verse. In 1977 Grier was made a life member of the League of Canadian Poets.Grier, Eldon, ABC Bookworld, BC Bookworld. Web, Aug. 31, 2014. Publications *''A Morning from Scraps''. Montreal: privately published, 1955. *''The Year of the Sun: Poems''. Montreal: Cambridge Press, 1956.Search results=Eldon Grier, Abe Books Inc., AbeBooks.com, Web, June 14, 2012. *''The Ring of Ice''. Montreal: Cambridge Press, 1957. *''Mazanillo, and other poems''. San Miguel de Allende, México: printed by Imp. San Miguel, 1957? *''A Friction of Lights''. Toronto: Contact Press, 1963. *''Pictures on the Skin: Poems'' (illustrated by Sylvia Tait). Montreal: Delta Canada, 1967. *''The Women of Quebec'' (broadside). Santa Barbara, CA: Unicorn Press (Unicorn Folio series), 1969. *''Selected Poems, 1955-1970''. Montreal: Delta Canada, 1971. *''Three Poet Artists'' (by Eldon Grier, P.K. Page, & Joe Rosenblatt). Burnaby, BC: The Gallery, 1978. *''The Assassination of Colour''. Fredericton, NB: Fiddlehead Poetry Books, 1978. *''Collected Poems, 1955-2000''. Victoria, BC: Ekstasis Editions, 2001. ISBN 1-896860-82-6 Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Eldon Grier, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Aug. 31, 2014. See also *List of Canadian poets References External links ;Poems *from "An Ecstasy" ;Audio / video *A Poetry reading by Eldon Grier ;Books *Eldon Grier at Amazon.ca ;About *Grier, Eldon at ABC Bookworld *"The Last Modernist: Eldon Grier in Canada" by Stephen Morrissey * "Two Poems by Eldon Grier", Reading Chldren's Books Category:Articles created via the Article Wizard Category:1917 births Category:2001 deaths Category:Canadian poets Category:20th-century poets Category:Canadian modernist poets Category:Canadian painters Category:English-language poets Category:Modernist poets Category:Poets